Soutenance HDR, James Taylor, le 7 juin 2019 à 14h00 à Montpellier SupAgro

TOWARDS INCORPORATING WITHIN-FIELD VARIATION INTO SPATIAL AGRONOMIC DECISION PROCESSES

James Taylor, Senior researcher,  UMR ITAP, Irstea

le 7 juin 2019 à 14h00 à l’amphithéâtre 206 (bâtiment 9) sur le campus Lagaillarde de Montpellier SupAgro.

Precision Agriculture is constantly evolving and will likely continue to do so at an even faster rate with the current digital revolution. It is however ultimately about making better decision and being able to justify those decisions. This must all come from a solid base of understanding the amount of spatial and temporal variation that occurs within production systems. It also requires pathways to simplify the available information to permit correct decisions to be made with confidence. Over the past 2 decades, I have researched and continue to conduct research in both of these areas to ensure that there is suitable knowledge available to promote further spatial applications. Advances in digital technologies and sensing systems are changing the way that data is collected and processed, but it does not change the underlying spatial structure and the fundamental knowledge. As data and information evolves, so too will the tools used to describe and analyse the data, but the underlying processes will be similar.

This soutenance will outline contributions that I have made in understanding and modelling spatial data in agriculture systems. It draws on work conducted across 4 continents and various types of perennial and broadacre cropping systems. The research is focussed on potential commercial applications, and considers both technical questions and socio-technical challenges that are facing precision agriculture (and more recently digital agriculture). The need for new approaches to make better decisions will always exist in agriculture. It is not an exact science. However, the better our understanding of the variable environment in which crops grow, and the more effectively that we can respond to variability in a timely and spatial manner, the more sustainable our cropping systems will be.

Jury :

Prof Philippe Vismara (HDR) – UMR LIRRM, SupAgro Montpellier, University of Montpellier

Prof Bruno Tisseyre (HDR) – UMR ITAP, SupAgro Montpellier, University of Montpellier

Dr Aurelie Metay (HDR) – UMR SYSTEM, SupAgro Montpellier, University of Montpellier (Rapporteur)

Prof Gilbert Grenier – UMR 5218 – IMS, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, University of Bordeaux (Rapporteur)

Prof Jose Antonio Martinez – Department of Environmental and Soil Sciences, Univeristy of Lleida, Spain

Dr Davide Cammarano – Information and Computational Sciences, James Hutton Institute, UK